Monarch helps beat the January blues with new flights to Cyprus

Gatwick, Birmingham and Manchester to Paphos routes start May 2011

Perhaps it’s the post-Christmas effect, the dreary weather and the long wait for spring, but travel agencies are reporting a sudden surge in overseas holiday bookings just days into 2011 with even more spur-of-the-moment getaways to be booked by the end of February as Britons chase the sun.

Spain and Greece are tipped as favourites this year, with a handful of “new” destinations on this year’s travel menu including Abu Dhabi and Syria. And in addition to the already popular Egypt and Turkey, Cyprus – a popular timeshare destination – is high on the shortlist this year.

Monarch Airlines are celebrating the new year with new scheduled flights to Paphos, flying twice a week from Gatwick, Birmingham and Manchester on Wednesdays and Sundays to sunny Cyprus beginning 4 May.

The airline already services Larnaca (since 2007) but with Paphos now on the schedule starting this spring in direct response to customer feedback, the number of seats on Monarch flights between the UK and Cyprus will be up by 35% this summer to meet heavy demand.

Chances are many holidaymakers will be heading to one of Paphos’s most popular timeshare resorts, Paradise Kings Club. In an exclusive and peaceful setting with panoramic views of the Mediterranean and just minutes from famous Coral Bay, the RCI Gold Crown Resort is an easy drive from Paphos airport on the southwest coast of Cyprus.

The resort is a relaxed family-friendly resort with a long list of water sports on offer including windsurfing, waterskiing, sailing, banana boats, sea cruises, scuba diving, jet-skiing and The Aphrodite Water Park – plenty to keep water babies of all ages happy.

Famous as the birthplace of the Aphrodite, the Greek Goddess of Love, the ancient city of Paphos is blessed with perfect holiday scenery: sandy beaches, rugged landscapes, orange groves and cool cedar forests. Better still, the temperature rarely dips below double digits, even in low season, hovering nicely around the 16C mark during sun-drenched winter days and making our UK winter daytime “highs” look positively Arctic.

For more information about this RCI Gold Crown Resort and Monarch flights to Cyprus, visit: